Not Another Day
by ladyharlequin101
Summary: Stuck in a neverending time loop, Chris and Jill struggle to get out alive from Raccoon City, where Nemesis haunts their every move, and the secret to breaking the continual hell alludes them. Set in RE3, JC pairing.
1. The Dream and the Nightmare

Author's Notes: After writing my mini-fic 'The official STARS', which was very humour-ish, I've decided to pen another serious one, as my other 'serious' fic 'What Was Lost' was generally well received. Also, kinda as a warning, I've just gotta say that in this story (which I plan to be about ten or so chapters long) I may fail to update quickly cause I'm also writing 'how we live now' so I apologise in advance… Please, as always read and review…

Note: Just to say that although this fic takes place in Resi Evil 3, I've decided to take some artistic licence (yeah, some means loads), and have included Chris on the premise that he didn't go to Europe, and how am I going to do a Chris/Jill fic other wise?

-Dd-

Blood stained the gravel footpath a deep crimson as Jill Valentine's head impacted the floor, her fingers uselessly clawing at the paving in an attempt to retrieve her discarded magnum. Nemesis strode forward, watching the broken form of the ex-STARS member, fleshy tentacles writhing and contorting about his mutated form as every step he took shook the leaves from their branches.

Jill looked up, blinking the blood from her eyes as her vision swam with lights and colours and dancing shapes, her cluttered mind trying desperately to re-establish a grip on a reality that was so quickly slipping away. Darkness loomed, inky blackness seeping into her consciousness, dragging her away from the light. It was nearly over, and a part of her wanted it, the release, the freedom from the cocoon of pain that she was presently encased in.

Nemesis loomed closer, his solid mass casting a shadow over the stricken officer as she lay on the ground, helplessly awaiting the fait that was so nearly upon her, while scarlet life seeped from multiple wounds. A hand came to her throat, rotting fingers encasing her neck and lifting her in one smooth motion, muscles tightening, squeezing bone and skin and sinew, as the monster watched the last dregs of life disappear from her eyes, her limp body hanging from his outstretched fist. It was all over. Umbrella had won.

* * *

Pain. Pain exploded everywhere, clinging to every cell. It burned; moving and pulsing like a slick, wet, heat, boiling her blood and expanding the veins they flowed through. The fire consumed her, searing a spot at the back of her eyes, pulling her further down into the abyss. But the light called to her, its gentle warmth proving to be a welcome respite from the agonising pit she was trapped in.

Sound. Sound rang in her ears, raucous bells crying in protest at their miss-use. But somewhere, somewhere else, somewhere beyond the bells and the fire, the sound of rain falling lapped at the edges of her consciousness, telling her to leave the darkness behind. Her body didn't want to, the journey from the darkness was a tiring one, but as she got closer to the light and the rain, determination won out, and she woke up.

* * *

Jill's eyelids fluttered open as the quickening patter of rain hitting the windowpane drew her from the abyss of very-deep sleep. She sat up; her eyes slow to take in the details of the unlit bedroom, the occasional flash of lightning only managing create ghostly shadows on the soft, plush carpet. The shadows were somehow contorted, disturbed, and seemed to move and swim before her vision as she stared at them, familiar shapes playing out before her eyes. She sat, transfixed, at the shadows before her, until the shadows disappeared, somehow draining through her soft carpeted floor. Then pain suddenly bit hard, the shadows turning to images fresh in her mind; an experience re-lived.

_Blood cascading down my face as I looked up at the hulking Nemesis, its horribly stretched mouth contorted in a glorified smile as I slowly choked on my own blood, the metallic taste filling my nose and throat as I struggled to breath. It was killing me._

_What the fuck was that…?_

Jill fell limp on the bed as the memory died within seconds of entering her mind, the raw sensations and feelings imprinted on her flesh aching anew as she tried to rise up once more, falling down like puppet whose strings had been cut.

She coughed, still tasting the bitter tang of fresh blood on the back of her tongue, still feeling the cascade of hot, crimson life falling onto her bare shoulders from an open head wound, still feeling the vice like grip of rotting flesh wrapped around her throat.

Spluttering slightly, Jill gingerly felt the base of her skull, hands trembling as she touched the area where the pain had flared the worst. Withdrawing her hand she saw that her fingers were their normal colour, surprise evident on her delicate features as if she expected something else.

_Like blood. That what you were expecting…?_

As the heat throughout her form subsided somewhat, Jill sat up, each laboured breath becoming slightly less painful as the seconds slipped away, the only sound the eerie crack of lightning permeating the silence every few seconds. After a minute, Jill fell back down, closing her eyes and listening to the soothing sound of the rain outside hitting her apartments roof. Reaching out to her bed-side cabinet she turned her lamp on, the small object of illumination casting the previously darkened room into light.

Withdrawing her hand, Jill knocked a glass of water and watched as it teetered on the edge, before falling to the floor, and spilling its contents. It was as if the action played out in front of her in slow motion, the glass streaming through in seeming bullet-time, before hitting the ground, its contents spilling over the rim.

_Déjà vu…_

_Turning the lamp on, watching the glass fall to the floor as I took my hand away. Water soaked the carpet as I got out of bed, gingerly making my way towards the kitchen to retrieve a cloth. Picking up the material, the phone rang, ringing out for three beats before I picked it up. Chris' voice on the other end. He needed to speak to me._

_And it gets wierder…_

Shaking off the feeling, Jill pulled her quilt covers back, gingerly placing a slender foot on the carpet, careful to avoid the soaking patch of carpet that she had just created. As she walked slowly towards her kitchen Jill couldn't escape the feeling that she'd already done this before, already lived through these events as if her current form were merely a shadow of what happened previously, chasing what really happened.

Reaching the kitchen, she found a dry cloth hanging from the door of the cooker, and bent down to pick it up. She found that her hand was shaking slightly.

_What you on Valentine? You expect Chris to call, now, at half three in the morning? It was just a dream, get over it…_

The thought was immediately drown out by the sound of her phone ringing. She knew she was wrong…

_And it's gonna be Chris…?_

Her trembling hand lifting the receiver after three long beats, holding her ear to it and listening carefully to the voice on the other end. She spoke first, a barely audible whisper into the mouthpiece.

"Hello,"

"Jill?" it was Chris, speaking in a tone that was both oddly familiar and previously unheard.

"I need to see you…"

Those words were all too familiar. _I've heard them before…_

-Dd-

Chapter Notes: Ok, I know that this chapter was a little confusing, but it'll get better with time, as I was just trying to convey 'atmosphere'. (hope it worked (: Anyway, see you in chapter two, where things will get a little clearer, and the, shall we say, 'Groundhog effect' will truly kick in… Please review and give me your opinion if this is worth carrying on…


	2. The Groundhog Effect

Author's Notes: I gotta say, I'm liking writing this one way more than 'How we live now' so if I get this one up quicker, don't complain… (: Anyway the rating for this one may go up cause there may be more blood and gore, and maybe even some 'lemon' (if I'm feeling inventive…) in later chapters. Please keep reviewing…

Also, please don't say anything about me completely messing with the plot of RE3, cause it's all for the greater good, and Carlos will still be in it so it's not that bad!

-Dd-

"I need to see you…"

The receiver nearly fell from Jill's hands as the words washed over her, familiar tones settling in the pit of her stomach, a thick feeling of nausea washing through her form as she stood there, unbelieving.

"What…?" she said simply into the phone, not even realising that words had passed her lips.

A sigh could be heard from the other end of the phone, an exasperated noise filled with complete and utter annoyance, his feelings in that exact second immortalised in that one simple sound, a sound that registered somewhere deep in her unconscious mind. She'd heard it before. More than once before.

_Get real Valentine; he gets pissed with you all the time. You piss each other off, you bicker, you fight, big deal…_

Why was he angry with her this time?

_He's angry with me because I didn't give him an answer. I left without giving him an answer. That's why he wants to see me. He asked me a question…_

"You know _what," _his voice was raised, heated, and exuded a force and anger that Jill saw from Chris all too often. He always picked fights, almost always with her. _Redfield nature…_

"You think you can just leave without a word after that? After me putting my heart on the line when all you do is tear it apart…?" she could almost feel him rubbing his temple, as the previous heat his voice exuded turned to something a little softer. A little more desperate.

Pleading, sad… _When does Chris plead…? Wait, what did he ask me…?_

Moving images filled her mind once more as an uncontrollable ripple of burning heat seeped into each cell, clinging to her flesh making every inch of her exposed skin itch. Pain. Burning pain, everywhere.

_Nemesis hulking over me. Fist wrapped tightly around my throat, pulling me into the air. Blood on my tongue as I try to swallow; the hot liquid bitter and metallic in my mouth. Darkness looms. I try to avoid its grasp but it pulls me down. I open my eyes and see him, the last sight before I die… _

Chris…

"Jill…?" Chris's voice on the other end of the phone, dragging her mind back to the reality that her body was trapped in.

"Yeah Chris," the only thing she could say, yet, a million other phrases came to mind. _Why does this whole fucking scene feel like it's been pre-recorded and I'm reading lines that I don't know about…?_

"Why won't you just answer me…?"

For a split second his voice seemed distant, distracted, like he too was having trouble voicing his true opinion, as if the words that passed his lips weren't the words that were formulating in his mind. Only for a second, until his words were once more consumed by fire, rage.

Jill closed her eyes, desperately searching in her memories subconscious for the moment in question. When she'd left him, ripped his heart out, mutely ignored him without a backward glance. Images flooded back anew, but not the ones she had been searching for.

_Nemesis. Crushing my throat, slowly killing me as I hung limply in its outstretched arm. Blood filled my mouth, coursed over my tongue. I could taste it. Then I saw him. The last person I would ever see. I'm sorry, I hope he knows I'm sorry…_

_Pain, burning, darkness. All too familiar._

Stop.

The phone dropped from Jill's trembling fingers, clattering to the floor in slow motion as if it were meant to happen, as if it was being controlled by some far away conductor, settling on the floor as that was where it was meant to be. Jill just left it there. That seemed like the right thing to do to, although she didn't know why.

_Why, when I try to remember anything, do I come up with that twisted fucking dream?_

The sound of Chris' voice could be heard, muffled words emanating form the bottom of the dropped phone receiver. Jill sat down next to it, the cold tiled floor sending shivers snaking up the base of her spine as she simply stared at the piece of plastic, already knowing her reply to Chris' earlier question. Already knowing an excuse for her clumsiness.

_Sorry about that Chris, just accidentally knocked a glass on the floor, made me drop the phone…_

Jill looked up the tabletop and saw a dirty glass on the sideboard ready to be washed. It didn't look right; it didn't feel right in that place. Why should I knock it over, at least why should I this time around?

She stood up, eyes never leaving the surface of the dirty glass as it simply sat on the table, unmoving, out of place from where it was meant to be. It didn't seem right. _I knocked it off the side by accident, I didn't mean to, I was just bending over to pick the phone up and it…_

Smashed.

Jill looked round, the crack of glass directing her gaze to the floor where the glass now lay in pieces, shattered on the floor._ It came true, I knew that it smashed and it came true. I tried not to but it still happened. It really was an accident…_

Chris' voice was slightly panicked at the other end as she held the receiver once more to her ear, frantically calling out her name to see if she'd gone. He knows I haven't gone, already knows what I'm gonna say cause I've said it before. This is well and truly fucked Valentine, you know that don't you…?

"Sorry about that Chris, just accidentally knocked a glass on the floor, made me drop the phone." The words were mechanical, pre-set, repeating what had already said. _Now that is whacked…_

Silence could be heard on the other end, only for a few seconds, but it was there, a sign that all was not right on the other end. Jill knew what he was about to say, even before the sound travelled down the phone line. _Is it just me or do you feel like this has happened before…_

The Groundhog effect.

-Dd-

Chapter notes: I know that was way confusing, but that was just setting everything up, again, and dropping hints about what's to come. If you wanna find out more please keep reading, and as always review ;)


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